


Dysfunctional

by KaijinKyn



Series: An Extention Of Life [2]
Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bird/Human Hybrids, Family Fluff, Gen, Robotics, Science, a character is sick btw, its not as if its described in detail or anything though, just in case that squicks anyone out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 18:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9454274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijinKyn/pseuds/KaijinKyn
Summary: “...You are wrong. I do not care for him. I was simply trying to avoid getting my hard work-”“Our! Our hard work!”“-Crushed.” Souma turned back to his work, beginning to file it away stiffly. “You and Dr. Kawara are walking hazards to yourselves and the birds around you.”“Well, you’re too boring!!” Nishikikouji complained, folding his arms over his chest in irritation. “If we left Ryouta with you for the day he’d have deactivated himself by the time we got back!”





	

“Good morning, Isa!” Kawara Ryuuji greeted as he walked into work that morning, a talon raised towards the younger bird cheerfully. Souma did not look up from his work, too engrossed in the process to be able to spare even a second, but he did give a half nod in return along with a reply.

“Good morning, Dr. Kawara.”

“Good morning, Mr. Isa!” A smaller talon landed on top of the papers beside Souma with a ‘thwack’ and the partridge flinched, looking away from the microscope he’d been peering into to see what had disturbed him.

“Ah. Good morning, Ryouta.” The boy smiled, all bright red eyes and bright white teeth, the talon not on Souma’s work extended by Ryouta’s side in excitement. 

“I’m getting new legs today!! Right?? Dad told me!” Souma raised an eyebrow, his eyes flickering up towards Kawara, who pointedly avoided Souma’s gaze by busying himself with straightening some papers that, really, did not need straightening at all.

“Is that so, Ryouta? Well, whether or not you get those legs depends on Nishikikouji. He’s been taking his time building them for you.”

“Don’t think I can’t hear you talking about me, Isa Souma!” Nishikikouji’s voice resounded from the room over, a noise that was accompanied by a lot of whirring machinery. “I’ll have you know, building a child’s body isn’t exactly a walk in the park! I’d like to see you do my job!”

“I  _ am _ doing your job, right now. Because you’re not here to do it for yourself.”

“Well- Well-! Shut up!” Ryouta was giggling in childish amusement beside Souma and the partridge, despite himself, felt a small smile let itself be known on his face.

Souma had never wanted children and he still didn’t, but Ryouta was...An outlier. A unique point in his life. His boss’ son and his own making - with maybe a little bit of help from Nishikikouji, sure.

“What are you doing, Mr. Isa?” Ryouta asked, standing on his toes to try and see what Souma was working on. There was a small creaking noise that accompanied it and Souma ‘tsk’ed’, making a quick note to make sure the boy’s next toes didn't squeak.

“Currently I am investigating on whether or not it's possible to copy the genetic make-up of less evolved species of birds in order to make sure we still have a stock of food when-” Ryouta's red eyes were looking at him blankly and Souma sighed, glancing down at his work. “I want to see if it’s possible to clone chickens so we have more to eat in the future.”

“Oh!” Ryouta replied, his face lit up - before rushing off to slip into Nishikikouji’s work room, probably to bother him. Souma watched him go, expression somewhat displeased as Ryuuji smiled and hummed above him.

“Ahh, kids, am I right?? Haha! You’re unappreciated in your time, Isa.”

“Yes, I’ve realised.” Souma replied sullenly, looking back down at the microscope before huffing and getting to his feet, letting the pen in his talons roll away. With Ryouta here he was never going to get any work done. It was always easier to quit for the day while he was ahead.

“Hey, don't look like that! Here, I only came in today to get you and Nishikikouji-” Ryuuji began, talons waving around as they were prone to do when the bird began to speak excitedly.

“Are we going somewhere?” Souma raised his eyebrows, giving his boss a bland look. “Your work ethic is poor, sir.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Don’t worry about it! Anyway, yeah, I wanted us to go for like- Hm, er, what're they called, something to do wiiith- Ah!” The rock dove snapped his talons, eyes popping open as he seemed to remember. “A picnic!”

“...A picnic.” Souma’s voice was dull, duller than usual, though Ryuuji took no notice in his excitement as he spun around, arms flung outwards.

“Yeah!! That's what they're called, can’t believe I forgot…”

“Sir, is a picnic really necessary-”

“A picnic!?” Nishikikouji burst out of the robotics room, a giggling, legless Ryouta in his arms. Ryuuji turned to him with equal enthusiasm, red eyes bright.

“Yeah! It’ll be fun!!”

“Fun?  _ Fun _ ? Doctor, you underestimate the utter  _ power _ a picnic has!”

“...Power?” Souma repeated, arms folded over his chest with an air of incredulity - but neither of the other two were listening, becoming increasingly energetic.

“Power! You’re right! I forgot, I forgot! Quick, we gotta go, grab some food-”

“Ryouta.” Souma sighed, grabbing the boy from Nishikikouji before the pheasant could drop him. The smaller rock dove was designed much lighter than he had been but his metal was still very durable, largely thanks to Nishikikouji. Souma did have to put him down fairly quickly - Ryouta may have been lighter but Souma’s left side was still more or less useless.

“Mr. Isa, am I gonna get new legs before we go?” The small rock dove looked suddenly upset, talons grabbing onto Souma's sleeve. “Will I get to go?? I wanna go to the picnic!” Souma frowned, gently dislodging the boy from his arm and giving him an awkward nod.

“Don’t worry, you will get your legs. We just need to wait for them to calm down…” Ryouta sniffled - despite being unable to cry or bleed or… Discharge any liquid whatsoever - and grabbed at Souma's arm again, much to the partridge’s despair.

“O-Okay…” Souma sighed, irritation beginning to bubble. Was he the only bird with his head straight around here? There was an upset child here that both Kawara and Nishikikouji were perfectly willing to ignore.

“Sir. Nishikikouji.” He spoke, and when neither of the other two paid attention he raised his voice, a talon on Ryouta’s head to keep the boy calm. “Dr. Kawara!” That caught the elder rock dove’s attention, Kawara turning to him with a wide smile.

“Isa! C’mon, c’mon, join in! It’ll be good, we'll have a nice day out-”

“Your  _ son _ , sir.” Souma cut him off coldly, giving his boss a sharp look. “I did not offer to bring him back to life for you to ignore him again.” It was a low-blow and not something Souma enjoyed saying - but it worked, Kawara flinching at Souma’s words and looking down at his upset son with concern.

“...Of course, Isa, my son…” He crouched down, picking up Ryouta with ease. “Sorry, kiddo. Hey, let's get you those legs, alright? Then we'll go out.” The pair disappeared into the robotics room and Souma fixed his icy stare on Nishikikouji.

“You aren't any better.”

“Guh-? Well! I’m sorry  _ you _ don't know how to have fun-”

“It was not a matter of having fun, Nishikikouji,” Souma replied, tilting his head slightly at the taller bird with a bland look. “You were neglecting Ryouta.”

“Hmph…” Nishikikouji huffed, turning his head away from Souma in annoyance. “I do not like to admit that you are correct… Although, you care much more for that boy than you let on, hm?”

“...You are wrong. I do not care for him. I was simply trying to avoid getting my hard work-”

“Our!  _ Our  _ hard work!”

“-Crushed.” Souma turned back to his work, beginning to file it away stiffly. “You and Dr. Kawara are walking hazards to yourselves and the birds around you.”

“Well, you’re too boring!!” Nishikikouji complained, folding his arms over his chest in irritation. “If we left Ryouta with you for the day he’d have deactivated himself by the time we got back!”

“Ryouta enjoys my work.” Souma responded, voice touchier than he would have liked. Why was he so upset about this?? It wasn't like him to care.

“...Ha. So you  _ can _ feel emotions.” Souma flinched, talon slipping on the papers he’d been trying to file with increasingly less success and hissed when it cut along the skin, shoving the wound against his mouth and sucking at it irritably. Nishikikouji was  _ wrong _ . Being emotional got in the way of scientific research - and that was all Ryouta was. A science project. Something he’d aimed to complete - which he had. It shouldn’t be  _ his _ responsibility to care for the child.

“Alright!! We’re ready to go!” Kawara exclaimed, appearing from the robotics room with a wide grin.

“I feel weird.” Ryouta complained, clinging to his dad’s sleeve as he flexed his new, longer legs with a frown.

“You’re just unbalanced because you’re not used to being that tall yet, kiddo.” Kawara explained cheerfully to his son, crouching down to talk to him better.

“Don’t worry, Ryouta.” Nishikikouji said, his hands on his hips as he spoke to the boy. “You’ll adjust in no time, I’m sure! ...And if not, I’m sure Isa Souma wouldn’t mind carrying you.” He gave Souma a sly side look, the response from the partridge being a roll of the eyes.

“I cannot hold Ryouta for more than a few seconds, Nishikikouji, you know this. ...Not that I would want to hold him.” He added too quickly onto the end of his sentence, feeling hot under the amused looks from his colleagues. He was not emotionally attached to Ryouta. He was  _ not _ emotionally attached to Ryouta.

Souma continued this inner tirade against himself as the four of them made their way to Dr. Kawara’s car, expression tight. It wouldn’t do to let himself care for the boy. Science was the most important to him.

“...Hey, Isa Souma. Are you okay? You look a little pale - not that I care. If you’re going to faint, make sure you tell me so I don’t accidentally catch you.” Nishikikouji spoke, voice flippant. Souma couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, but he shook his head anyway. The other was unimportant right now.

“I’m fine. Do not worry.”

“Pfft. I most certainly was not, Isa Souma.”

The ride to the park was similarly stressful for Souma - sat next to Ryouta who continually clung to him while shouting along with Dr. Kawara and Nishikikouji - he could feel himself becoming queasy. Too many people and too much noise… Especially when he was trying to think. 

“Hey, Mr. Isa, are you okay?? ...You gonna be sick?” Ryouta suddenly addressed Souma, who was leaning his forehead against the window of the car and trying to keep himself calm by identifying whatever red he could see from the speed they were going at. Trust the doctor to be a terrible driver.

“No… Thank you, Ryouta.” Souma muttered back, voice low. Honestly… How annoying. He was trying to convince himself he didn’t care about Ryouta and the child went ahead and worried for his health anyway. It was like meeting Dr. Kawara all over again.

“Don’t bother, Ryouta! I already attempted to be concerned for Isa Souma, but he is stubborn and unlikeable. Ignore him!” Nishikikouji huffed from the seat beside Kawara who, in a bold display of complete disregard for all road safety, turned in his seat to give Souma a worried look while also attempting to drive at the same time.

“Do you need me to pull over, Isa?”

“No, I am fine. And… Please keep your eyes on the road, sir.”

In the end, Souma  _ was _ sick - but they didn’t crash, which he supposed was a bonus.

* * *

 

“...Sorry.” Souma mumbled, in a rare case of bashful embarrassment. Kawara didn’t seem bothered, giving Souma a friendly pat on the shoulder and a small smile while, a little ways away, Nishikikouji made a fuss over the possibility of there being sick on his clothes.

“Don’t worry about it, Isa! I know I’m super bad at driving… Though, if you didn’t feel well, you should have told me!”

“...Yes, sir.” Souma sighed, rubbing at his face with a talon as Kawara went back to peering into the car. Well, at least he felt a little better.

“Isa Souma, how dare you!” Nishikikouji yelled, stamping his feet as he stormed up to Souma. “I told you to say something-”

“Yes.”

“And then you  _ didn’t _ -”

“Yes.”

“ _ And now there’s sick on my shoes! _ ”

“Mm…” Souma turned his head away from the fuming pheasant, attempting to dig up even a scrap of regret or sympathy for Nishikikouji. “...Ah. Looks like I don’t care.”

“ _ I’LL ‘I DON’T CARE’ YOU IN A MINUTE YOU LITTLE- _ ”

“Dad, can we go??” All three birds paused and turned towards Ryouta, who had voiced his boredom after being rather patient for quite a while now. Souma looked away first, refusing to even acknowledge his own response to the boy and almost making himself queasy again. 

Nishikikouji seemed to notice because he gave Souma a dirty look before stepping away twice, flipping his long fringe out of his face irritably.

“Well! The park is only a little way away from here, so I’m sure Isa Souma wouldn’t mind walking you there-”

“No.”

“- _ Seeing as he’s the one who got us pulled over in the first place _ ,” Nishikikouji carried on, voice tense as he blatantly ignored Souma’s denial. “It’s only fair, hm? Myself and Dr. Kawara will go buy some food… And disinfectant.” Souma could feel himself getting red and folded his arms over his chest. He knew he was acting like a petulant child, especially when it  _ was _ his own fault, but it was difficult not to be annoyed when he was specifically trying to distance himself from Ryouta.

“That sounds fair to me!” Unfortunately, what Kawara said was law, so Souma was left to walk Ryouta to the park while the boy held onto his talon, Souma’s expression drawn and Ryouta’s one of excitement.

What a terrible day.

* * *

 

“-And do not wander too far away from where I can see you - and make sure you are careful about using your robotics, do not break anything or hurt any of the other children-” Ryouta sighed, his talons behind his back as he listened to Mr. Isa lecture him. He was interesting at his dad’s work, but when they were in a place like the park Mr. Isa could be really… Boring.

“Can I go now?” Ryouta interrupted, peering up at the stern-faced partridge hopefully. Mr. Isa sighed, looking away from Ryouta with a frown.

“...You may. Do not leave my sight until your father or Nishikikouji comes back.”

“Yes, Mr. Isa!” Ryouta was already running off, excitement making electricity crackle through his mechanisms. He didn’t get to go to the park very often - his dad was at work (not as much as he used to) and his mum was bedridden a lot (though recently she’d been getting better) - so he was at home by himself with nothing to do a lot.

“Ack!!”

“Wah!” Ryouta gasped, coming out of his thoughts all of a sudden. He’d bumped into another kid when he wasn’t paying attention and they’d landed on the floor quite hard. He knew he wasn’t the most comfortable thing to bump into… “Are you okay? I’m really sorry!”

“It’s alright…” They rubbed at their head and before Ryouta could even offer a hand in help they’d stood up-

“Oh.” Ryouta felt his eyes go wide, his mouth opening a little bit in surprise. She was…  _ Pretty _ . “Um.” 

“Do you work out??” She asked, voice amused. “You’re super strong!! You feel like a rock!! My dad’s a wrestler, so I would know.” She held out a hand (and yes, he noticed, it was a hand. She was a human) a wide smile on her face. “Nice to meet you! I’m Tosaka Hiyoko! What’s your name?”

“Uhhh…” Ryouta blinked a few times before remembering how to function properly, holding his own talon out jerkily. “K-Kawara, Kawara Ryouta. Um, it’s nice to meet you-” She grabbed his talon before he could even finish speaking, shaking it vigorously - too vigorously.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

* * *

 

Souma, meanwhile, had been sitting on the same bench with his eyes closed for the past 10 minutes, still pale. He was hot, now, under the sun… He’d never been very good at handling being outdoors. Really, why had he even come on this trip?

Still, he was instantly alert at the sound of a child’s scream - Ryouta’s scream. Worry filled his chest, despite what he’d tried to tell himself all day. Wide-eyed, he searched the park for the boy, spotting him a little ways away.

“Ryouta!” The small rock dove turned to him with a shaken expression, Souma kneeling as best he could (that is to say, slowly and without balance) beside the boy. “Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah… Sorry, Mr. Isa. I was just surpris-”

“Your  _ hand _ came off!! That’s so cool!!” Souma’s head turned sharply towards the new voice, the owner being a small girl holding tight onto Ryouta’s severed talon. “How’d you do that???” She only seemed to notice Souma a few seconds later, giving him a bright smile. “Oh!! Hi there!! I’m Hiyoko! Ryouta’s my friend now. Are you his dad?”

“N-No, Mr. Isa isn’t my dad!!” Ryouta answered before Souma could, waving his talon (and stump) in front of him frantically. “I’m sort of a robot. So, my hand can come off… Mr. Isa built me. Kinda.”

“Whoaaaaa!!” Souma frowned, not… Entirely impressed with Hiyoko’s mental capacity but - she seemed nice enough. “That’s so cool!!! Er… Sorry,  I didn’t mean to steal your hand, it just… Came off!!”

“Hm. It should not be so loose, Ryouta. Has this happened before?”

“Yeah, that talon comes off sometimes…”

“You should have said something.” Souma said, voice stern as he took the talon from Hiyoko and affixed it back onto Ryouta’s arm, the boy looking at him sadly from the ground as Souma got shakily back to his feet.

“Sorry, Mr. Isa…” Souma sighed, awkwardly patting Ryouta on the head and refusing to look at him while he did so.

“It is fine. We will fix it when we get back to the lab.”

“You live in a lab?!” Hiyoko asked, her eyes wide and tone exuberant.

“No, I live at my house…”

“Hey!! Isa Souma!!” Souma turned around, face blank as Nishikikouji and Kawara walked across the park towards him and Ryouta.

“Hello, doctor.” Souma greeted, ignoring Nishikikouji entirely, leaving the pheasant to fume as Kawara grinned at Souma happily.

“Hi!! Sorry we took so long, Isa! The walk was further than we thought. Did anything happen?” Souma looked down a little ways at the children who had run off to play on the climbing frame, his mouth contorting into something that might have been… A smile.

“...No, sir. Not much. Ryouta made a friend.”

“Nice!! Here, I got you an apple…”

* * *

 

“...If you are tired, Ryouta, you can sleep.” Souma said, voice quiet as the small rock dove yawned beside him, then jolted at Souma’s words.

“N-No, I’m okay Mr. Isa…” For a moment, Souma was quiet, mouth pulled into a frown.

“Your friend. Hiyoko. She’s a human, correct?”

“Yeah! She’s super strong and, uh...Really pretty.” Souma glanced down at the boy, an eyebrow raised as Ryouta fidgeted in his seat in embarrassment. “I like her a lot.”

“Hm. Ryouta, there will be people who tell you that you cannot be friends with a human.”

“Huh? Why?”

“After birds became the dominant race and we evolved to be more like humans, there was a lot of fighting. There are still some people who think that humans and birds can never mix, or live peacefully together… Including the Hawk Party. Do you understand?”

“...No.” Ryouta’s voice was small and Souma sighed, drumming his fingers on the side of the car irritably.

“Very simply, do not mention your friend to the rest of the lab. That is all.”

“...Would they hurt her?”

“Perhaps.” Ryouta was quiet and Souma looked over at him, curious to see how the boy would respond to this information. Their conversation had been a quiet one - Nishikikouji and Kawara were listening to loud music in the front of the car and though Ryouta had looked incredibly tired for a while now he’d refused to sleep for whatever reason. Not that it was actually 'sleeping' per say - he was, after all, a robot, but he still had a brain. It was more like shutting himself down for a period of time.

“Thank you, Mr. Isa.”

“Hm?”

“If it had been dad or Mr. Nishikikouji, I don’t think they would have told me something like that. Even though she’s a lot stronger than me - I’d like to be able to protect Hiyoko.”

“Hmph. You only met her today. Do not be so quick to tie yourself to others. You might find yourself disappointed.”

“...Do you like me, Mr. Isa?” Ah. So he had noticed.

“Of course I do.”

“But-”

“Sleep, Ryouta. It is getting late and you are obviously tired. If you are so uncomfortable as to not be unable to rest properly, you may… Lean on me.” Souma could feel Ryouta looking at him and he sighed, irritated. Why had he ever offered-

“Thank you, Mr. Isa.” Souma initially tensed at the feeling of Ryouta’s weight on his right arm before slowly relaxing, looking ostensibly out the window and refusing to even glance at the boy. What was he  _ doing _ ?

“...You don’t have to call me that.”

“Eh?”

“Souma is fine.”

“Oh… Thank you, Mr. Souma.”

“No, that’s not-” Ryouta was already asleep. Souma scowled, running a talon over his face in annoyance. How troublesome. 

It was curiosity that made him look down, for just a second, at the boy leaning against his arm. Souma was glad nobody was paying attention to him, because then they would have seen the smile on his face.

Souma never wanted children - but Ryouta was a good enough alternative.

* * *

 

“Oh, hey! I almost forgot Isa and Ryouta were here, they’re being so quiet. Nishikikouji, check on ‘em will ya?” Tohri, who had been checking his appearance in the car mirror (flawless, as usual) glanced away from himself to pay attention to Dr. Kawara, who for once looked like he was actually focusing on driving.

“Of course, doctor! Right, Isa Souma-” Tohri paused, looking behind his seat at the two in the back with a strangely neutral expression for the pheasant.

“...Nishikikouji? Something wrong?”

“No, doctor. Give me a second.” Rummaging around in his bag, Tohri gave a quiet ‘aha!’ when he managed to retrieve his phone from it’s depths, pointing it at the two in the back and taking a quick photo. “There we are! Aren’t they just  _ adorable _ , doctor?” Kawara glanced at the image, an amused laugh escaping his mouth at the sight.

“Oh, yes! Send that to me, Nishikikouji.”

“Hmhm! Will do.”

Suffice to say, Souma wasn’t pleased to find the image of himself asleep in the doctor’s car with Ryouta also asleep on his arm floating around the lab the next morning.


End file.
